MILAN — Consolidation is the new black.
Giorgio Armani is the latest designer to announce a new brand strategy. After his Emporio Armani show last week, he revealed his decision to cease the Armani Collezioni and Armani Jeans brands and use only the Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and A|X Armani Exchange names. The new strategy will be effective starting with the spring 2018 season. Armani Collezioni and Armani Jeans will be blended into those three main lines. Armani is the latest in a string of designers and companies that have streamlined collections, including Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana and Paul Smith.
Emporio Armani will become “a cluster of ideas,” the designer said, referring to distribution both at retail and wholesale. “We are rethinking our stores. I don’t believe in a strict separation of categories, jackets all in one place, skirts all in another, pants in yet another.”
Armani said the goal was also to “serve a different public, showing different lines within one single space. Customers want to enjoy the shopping experience. Their request is to be entertained. We should keep in mind the meaning of the name Emporio,” the designer said. “It should be an emporium.”
At the same time,
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